How ‘Wayne’s World 2’ Almost Cost Mike Myers His House

Following the success of the original Wayne's World, a sequel was always in the cards. However, legal troubles derailed the original script for Wayne's World 2 – and allegedly had writer and star Mike Myers curled up in a ball as a studio boss yelled that she'd ruin him if he didn't come up with a new script pronto.

The story goes that Myers had originally based Wayne's World 2 on the 1949 British comedyPassport to Pimlico. In this version of the film, Wayne Campbell and his sidekick Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) would form their own country and secede from the United States – a very different movie from the Waynestock script of the eventual release.

Paramount Pictures was only made aware of the similarities between Myers' script andPassport to Pimlicoonce production was well under way, putting the whole production at risk. Studio boss Sherry Lansing was furious as she believed they didn't have time to negotiate the rights toPassport to Pimlicoin time for the scheduled release of Wayne's World 2.

According to Stephen Galloway's biography on Lansing, she said, "How dare you? How dare you put us in this position? We’ll sue you. We’ll take your fucking house. You won’t even own a fucking home.”

Another Paramount bigwig, John Goldwyn, reveals in Galloway's book that Lansing said, "As I’m sitting here with you, there’s a team figuring out how they can take every single thing away from you.” Goldwyn goes on to say the outburst left Myers “so shaken that he curled up in a fetal position on Lansing’s couch.”

Lansing sent Myers off to write a new script immediately and told him not to come back until he had one. Fueled by little more than fear, Myers came up with the Jim Morrison dream sequence and Campbell's desire to hold his own festival, Waynestock.

For the first Wayne's World movie, Myers had wanted Aerosmith to reprise their cameo from a 1990 Saturday Night Livesketch, but the band refused, paving the way for Alice Cooper's star turn. However, they agreed to appear in the sequel, and they bookended the film, performing "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" early on and "Shut Up and Dance" at Waynestock.

Watch Aerosmith in 'Wayne's World 2'

If rumor is to be believed, Nirvana could also have played a part in the film. As the world of rock was being dominated by grunge in the early '90s, Myers supposedly approached them about making a cameo, but Kurt Cobain declined.

Even though the film had its moments, the numbers don't lie, and Wayne's World 2 fell way short at the box office. While the first film grossed $121.6 million in the U.S. on a $20 million budget, the second only took in $48.2 million, barely recouping its $40 million budget.

That said, Myers hasn't definitively ruled it out. He and Carvey teamed up in character forSaturday Night Live's 40th anniversary special in 2015 and seemingly had a blast.

Asked later if he'd consider making a third film, Myers said, "It would be an interesting examination of Wayne at 50. I don't know what it would look like, but the idea of it makes me laugh and Dana and I had a blast at the 40th anniversary, so I don't know."